One of the biggest games at last week’s E3 expo in LA was undoubtedly Mass Effect 2. EA was smart about its marketing leading up to E3, adopting the slow drip feed technique by releasing videos that leave more questions than answers.<\/p>\n
But thanks to the Internet pretty much all the info shared in the closed door session at E3 is now freely available.<\/p>\n
Firstly, Commander Sheppard is not dead, but then no one seriously thought he was did they? The “is he, isn’t he” rumor mill perpetuated by the sneak trailers can be put to rest, and it is now common knowledge that players will step right back into Sheppard’s space boots in Mass Effect 2.<\/p>\n
Mass Effect 2 will allow players to use their original saved games from Mass Effect, effectively allowing players to continue with the same character and items they left off with in the original. In fact Mass Effect 2 will take into account everything you did in the original; from who you killed to who you slept with, your actions in the first game will bear consequences in the sequel.<\/p>\n
New players will not benefit from any of the bonuses received in the original. This should please fans of the series, but will not be so detrimental to new comers that it poses a serious handicap to them.<\/p>\n
The first Mass Effect saw players chasing down Saren, a rogue Turian special operations agent who it turns out was under the control of a far greater intergalactic threat, the Reaper. The Reaper is a mass collective consciousness that is embodied by huge organic space ships that are keen on destroying all other living beings in existence.<\/p>\n
Mass Effect 2 will see the plot continue, as Sheppard works with a pro-human organization called Cerberus. Cerberus is investigating multiple disappearances of humans throughout the galaxy.<\/p>\n
Apparently much of Mass Effect 2 will consist of Sheppard journeying across the galaxy in search of party members. Unlike the first game where just about any beatnik off the street could join Sheppard in his quest to save humanity, this time around the hero is being a little more choosy, which is probably a good thing seeing as how he is going up against a threat of intergalactic proportions.<\/p>\n
This means that Sheppard will journey light years through vast locations in order to find specific highly trained and dangerous individuals to complement his team. Once the final team is in place, and all members are suitably equipped, trained and are sufficiently loyal, the player will embark on a final mission.
Various new enhancements to the gameplay were illustrated in the E3 video, such as a new conversation interrupt system where a player can at anytime choose “I’ve heard enough from you”, promptly ending the exchange.<\/p>\n
Combat has also been enhanced in Mass Effect 2. It will not be necessary to pause the game in order to make use of party members’ abilities, and keys have been programmed to trigger ally’s actions in real time.<\/p>\n
The gun fight mechanism has been reworked, and Mass Effect 2 will feature head shots and unique limb damage modeling. The physics have been enhanced and will play a role in the combat action. Overall Bioware has tried to make a more streamlined and fluid combat style, while still maintaining much of the duck and cover elements that characterized the original.<\/p>\n
One of the weak points in Mass Effect was the weapon selection. Most weapons were more or less the same mix of generic Sci-Fi laser shooters. Nine new weapon classes have been added to Mass Effect 2 including a rocket launcher.<\/p>\n
Another shortcoming of Mass Effect was that while the galaxy map from within Sheppard’s space ship made everything look vast and open ended, in reality players could land on only a few planets, and those planets all tended to be quite similar.<\/p>\n
Without getting into specifics, Bioware has stated that this is an area that has been focused on, and that the different locations will provide a richer and more varied setting than the original. Bioware also confirmed that the Mako has been ditched and that players will be given an alternative means of getting around on unexplored planets.<\/p>\n
Mass Effect 2 is shaping up gloriously, and is looking to outdo its already excellent predecessor. It is planned for release in early 2010 and has been confirmed for PC and Xbox 360.<\/p>\n
View leaked Mass Effect Gameplay footage <\/a>on MyGaming<\/p>\n